PDA

View Full Version : Need Plot ("dark" vampire setting)



Berenger
2011-03-28, 12:45 PM
Hello everybody,

I'm going to GM a game within a medieval/fantasy/vampire setting. Although I have a setting and some hopefully interesting events which will happen, I lack ideas for an actual plot.

The game is set during a harsh winter in an isolated country surrounded by mountains and untamed forests. This country is very scarcely populated, very poor and very terrorized by its nobles. Most of these nobles are vampires (while this is not exactly a secret, any "incriminations" against them are punishable by death, so nobody talks about this). This vampire aristocracy and their mortal henchmen rule with iron fist, charge their subjects with ruinous taxes and are generally not very nice or forgiving guys. However, the rulers are generally not stupid evil enough to drive the country to a total collapse by reducing the population below a certain point or acting completely erratical.

Two events are upcoming:

1. Every three years the local lord imposes a special tax: three young men an three maidens from the local villages are drawn by lot (the lads are pressed into the battle weary military while the girls fate is less pleasant - all those evil vampires want playthings and fresh blood).

2. A false paladin on the payroll of a third faction (even more evil necromancers) secretly provides weapons to the oppressed peasants and tries to raise a rebellion against the vampire nobles. This is not meant to actually liberate the people, but to wreak havoc across the countryside so it can be invaded more easily.



So I need ideas what the PCs can actually do about this. So far we have Yelena (beautyful daughter of the local forest warden, decent survival and trapping skills, but no fighting ability to speak of) and Dragoslav (former peasant drawn into military, managed to impress his superiors in battle and was field-promoted both to bogatyr [~knight] and vampire - he has fighting skills, but not much else). Dragoslav will have to collect said "blood tax" for his lord (which will probably shake his loyalty to said lord a bit, since he was born and raised in the village in question). The power level of the chars is very low (~level 1 in D&D terms, perhaps commoner for Yelena).

Any ideas?


(Since english is not my native language, please point out if some part of this posting is not understandable, then i'll try my best to improve it)

FreelanceAngel
2011-03-28, 01:41 PM
Well, you have a good setup for some considerable story going there, but the question is- what do you want to do with it?

Do you want the PCs to overthrow the vampires? If they're not combat-oriented and they're low level, it'd be a better idea for them to work within the system rather than flat-out challenging it. Perhaps they develop a plan to take out at least one vampire to inspire the people that it's possible to destroy these creatures. It doesn't take a massive fighter to put a stake through a sleeping vampire's heart- suppose they rig the drawing so Yelena is one of the maidens chosen, and she attempts to stake one of the vampires.

You have a false paladin NPC already in place- perhaps he goes looking for people more inclined to rise up against the vampires and dupes Yelena and Dragoslav into attempting to kill one of the vampires. Why would he do this? Well, it'd upset the nobility enough to ensure they wouldn't watch their borders very closely, setting things up nicely for an invasion.

The basic idea behind developing a plot is you have a goal in mind you want the PCs to reach, and I've found it easiest to just make a basic outline of events to occur that can lead to said goal. (The players are always going to screw up the plot at least once; have multiple ways of reaching your end goal in mind. It'll help. ^_~) So figure out what you really want the end result to be, and you can develop a plot from there. Who's the real villain? The vampires or the false paladin? That's also something you'll want to determine while you're creating your plot.

Severus
2011-03-28, 04:42 PM
A number of options:

1) you can go with the standard quest. Somewhere out there is the sword of ultimate niceness. It slays bad things at touch. etc. etc. Heroes hear about it and go looking for it to liberate their land.

2) if you can't beat them, join them, then beat them. Have your heroes turned into vampires themselves. Now they can seek to over take the other vampires and be good vampires or the like.

3) Have them be agents for the necromancers using their tools (magic items/special vampire poisons/etc.) to slay the vampires while establishing an underground resistance so that when the necromancers try to invade they don't succeed either.

LansXero
2011-03-28, 07:23 PM
Make the false Paladin not so overtly false at first. Have him meet your ex-military vampire PC and tell him help is on the way: should they be able to rouse the local population and shake the iron grip of the vampires, a righteous army of a neighbouring church would intervene; they are at the beginning of the game assembling in a secluded valley nearby.

First step would be to stake the local noble, and thats where your beautiful other PC comes in. She is deceptive, being self sufficient and also pretty, so it would make sense that Dragoslav would approach her with the idea of using her as a lure to kill the local vampire. Once thats done, rally the population around them and play the following sessions as they run missions to bring down the human henchmen and bring the land to turmoil. Gathering artifacts, helpng in fortifying towns and villages, stealing weapons, etc. After a few levels, they have liberated a fraction of the country and are on a somewhat even footing with the vampires, or at least they think so. Through all of this, their noble Paladin ally has been supplying them with resources, info and assistance, maybe even personally put himself in the line of battle once or twice. And thats when the 'good news' arrive: The army is making its move and will be here shortly. After all the bloodshed and gloom of the past missions, make a session for festivities and celebrations. . . and then the necromancers fall down on everyone and its a slaughter. The Paladin reveals himself and thanks dragoslav for providing him with an army; the raised remnants of the former villagers. Next part of the adventure involves the PCs trying to get their revenge on both sides and saving the survivors from the crossfire. Or making sure there are any survivors in the first place.

Berenger
2011-03-28, 08:50 PM
Thanks a lot, everybody!

I think i'll try the following:

1. Alienate Dragoslav from his vampire buddies (being forced to witness or participate in some atrocities should be sufficient).

2. Let Yelena stumble upon the "paladins" hideout in the woods (where she sees the secret weapon storage and / or people from her village talking to the false paladin).

3. a) If the PCs join the rebellion: Let them rig the drawing so Yelena can become the personal plaything of the local vampire lord (with her being the most beautiful maiden far and wide, he would surely claim her for his bed chamber) and stake him in his sleep. Escape with the help of Dragoslav. or b) If the PCs don't join the rebellion: Yelena is drawn by power of plot and gets to the vampire lord anyways.

4. Rebellion ensues - many possibilities for holy-sword-quests and organize-guerilla-warfare-quests of virtually all types.

5. At some point, the true intentions of the false paladin (and thus the necromancer-threat) will be noticed by the PCs. Boss battle with the paladin. Bonus points if the vampire knight puts on the plate mail and the white mantle of the slain paladin to impersonate him during battle in order to prevent a morale drop amongst the rebel troops.

6. Depending on how things developed so far, the further campaign has various possibilities (ranging from "PCs are heroes of the rebellion" to "PCs are cast out of the rebellion" and from "waging war against all undead" to "cut a deal with the remaining vampires to unite against the necromancers").


Does this sound like a plan? Of course, I would appreciate any further suggestions.

Crafty Cultist
2011-03-29, 01:12 AM
Personally, I think that having the PCs working for the vampires in hope of changing the system from within could be interesting. Having to follow orders they don't like for the sake of anoble goal could be great roleplaying, and could lead to some serious moral issues with regards to the uprising.

Your players might decide to follow the false paladin, only to come face to face with his treachery, or to follow the vampires, trying to preserve stability. Or, if your PCs are the scheming type, they might play the false paladin and the vampires against each other and strike a blow agaist both factions while they're occupied with each other.